Goyôkiba: Kamisori Hanzô jigoku zeme

More of the same in this sequel to Sword of Justice and it's just hard to believe it's not the same director. Much of the cast is the same, Hanzo is certainly the same and much of the torture, both the bloody sort and the sexual sort are the same and it still all works. We get a lady suffering the blocks this time and a reprise of the lady in the net lowering onto the big man's big.....

There is enough that's different to hold the attention and if anything there is more blood and flesh on display in this one. Helped once more by super cinematography, direction and editing, this is another fine mix of activities, plus even more disregard for the Japanese tendency to put up with almost anything for the sake of order and tradition.

This is the 2nd movie in the Hanzo The Blade trio of wonders. It's made by the people who made the classic "Lone Wolf And Cub" gorefest series but it's much more sick. Good production values, beautifully shot and acted make this sickie even more extreme. Our "hero" is a twisted Dirty Harry samurai who make (female) criminals talk with the help of his HUGE PENIS!!! In Part 1 you see him "training" his member with ricedolls, big rocks and boiling water!?! The women always hate it at first but then starts enjoyin' it, Hanzo then stops and they ask for more, and they get it only if they give him the information he needs!?! Sexist and stupid but utterly hilarious and fascinating. All three movies are bizarre mindblowin' masterpieces. A must for brave thrillseekers who think they have seen everything. As politically incorrect as you get! Japanese Trash Cinema rules!!!

The Japanese make the world's most audacious movies -- then they send them to the mainstream. This is a sensationally original epic of swordplay, sexual savagery, bone dry comedy and rousing bloodshed. It is so well made and so damn courageous it brought tears to my eyes.

Hanzo (the legendary Shintaro Katsu) is a Samurai policeman who uses his penis to extract information from beautiful women involved in an illegal abortion racket. He keeps his penis is ship shape by beating it, burying it in coals and exercising it daily. The film's opening title sequence, cut to a magnificent score by Isao Tomita, shows Hanzo hard at work in his country lair preparing his penis for a week of hard work. Yasuzo Masumura's direction of this sequence is exquisite. He lovingly employs a gorgeously lit series of close-ups to convey the pride our hero feels for his preferred weapon of choice. The photography is truly splendid and the cutting way above par.

I adore this series. This installment is my favorite, but 1 and 3 are also brilliant examples of the kind of film-making you won't find evidence of in any other country in the world.

When I first saw the Japanese Exploitation highlight "Gôyokiba" aka "Hanzo The Razor - Sword Of Justice" (1972) it became an instant favorite of mine. I was therefore more than excited to see the sequels, and after a long search, I finally found them recently. The first "Goyokiba" was already brilliantly crude and as politically incorrect as it gets, and I therefore was surprised that this first sequel "Goyôkiba; Kamisori Hanzo jigoku zeme" aka. "Razor 2: The Snare" is even sleazier. Hanzo 'The Razor' Itami, brilliantly played by the immortal Shintaro Katsu, is an incorruptible Samurai-constable in feudal Japan, who despises corruption and the spoiled aristocracy, and loves to insult his superiors... The 'Hanzo' films have a wonderfully crude, sexist and incorrect humor that must be the nightmare of moralists and feminists (in case they have no sense of humor). Hanzo, who, aided by his two assistants, regularly submits to self-torture in order to improve his own torture skills, interrogates female suspects by raping them. And they immediately fall for him, due to his enormous sexual powers and his huge penis, which he trains in grotesque rituals. After "Sword Of Justice", genius director Kenji Misumi, who had also directed Shintaro Katsu in some of the "Zatoichi" films, went on to direct the (even more brilliant) "Kozure Ôkami" ("Lone Wolf And Cub") films starring Katsu's equally great brother Tomisaburo Wakayama. Yasuzo Masumura therefore replaced Misumi in the director's chair for the sequel, and he sure did an outstanding job. "The Snare" is even sleazier than the first Hanzo flick, and a lot gorier. While it is maybe just not quite as comical as the first film, it features even more perversions and weird fetishes, sleazy tortures and quite a bit more gore. Shintaro Katsu, one of my personal favorite actors is once again brilliant in the role of Hanzo 'The Razor' Itami. Katsu does not play Hanzo, he IS Hanzo, one of the coolest (anti-)hero characters ever. The film is full of eccentric characters, and supporting cast is also great. The film, which has a cool, funky score (not quite as funky as in the first, but still), delivers loads of wicked sleaze, stylishly bloody carnage with crafty secret weapons, and a sort of humor that is about as crude and brilliant as it gets. "Razor 2: The Snare" is brilliant Chambara-Sleaze and pure Exploitation-Gold that no lover of Cult-cinema could possibly afford to miss!

overly endowed Samurai who doesn't take sh^# from anyone is back in the sequel to "Sword of Justice". Hanzo 'The Razor' Itami ( Shintarô Katsu, best known for the Zatôichi films) returns with his two ex-con assistants to kick more ass, rape more women, train his penis more, more corrupt government officials, and generally do away with more evil doers. This one adds demonic abortions, S&M clubs, and the best looking bald chick this side of Lt. Uhura. A bit more perverse and a lot more violent, this film as well as the whole trilogy is only recommended for the more adventurous, but if you approach it with an open mind you will NOT be disappointed. NOT for the PC crowd, and all the better because of that. But sometimes more is less. The film feels more like a retread in spot, and not as good as the original or the third one, but still watchable, even if it's the worst of the series.

My Grade: C+

DVD Extras: Merely Trailers for all 3 Hanzo the Razor films

Eye Candy: 18 breasts. 1 ass